Nazareth wins shootout with Pleasant Valley

Pleasant Valley put together a memorable first half, but the second was just as forgettable. Parrish Simmons threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, and Jordan Gray ran for 144 yards and three scores to lead Nazareth to a 50-28 victory over the Bears.

BRODHEADSVILLE — Pleasant Valley put together a memorable first half, but the second was just as forgettable.

Parrish Simmons threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, and Jordan Gray ran for 144 yards and three scores to lead defending District 11 Class AAAA champion Nazareth to a 50-28 victory over the Bears in non-conference football Friday.

Pleasant Valley (0-1) led 28-27 at halftime after a first 24 minutes filled with big plays. Freshman Austin Borre took the second play of the game 75 yards for a touchdown and junior quarterback Brandon Leap threw for 219 yards and two scores in the opening half.

The second half was a totally different story for the Bears, who had three turnovers and a blocked punt at their 10 yard line.

"We really have to do the little things to beat good football teams and I thought in the second half we were undisciplined at times and inconsistent in what we did," Pleasant Valley coach Jim Terwilliger said. "We didn't take advantage of things that we took advantage of in the first half and the outcome showed."

The Blue Eagles (1-0) took it right to PV to start the third quarter.

Nazareth opened with a 5:05-, 13-play drive that ended with a 29-yard field goal by Benjamin Wieczorek to take a 30-28 lead. The Blue Eagles never looked back.

Nazareth recovered a fumble on Pleasant Valley's fourth play of the third quarter and turned it into a touchdown when Simmons found Anthony Gaetaniello for a 29-yard touchdown with 3:40 to play in the third.

After scoring 28 points and gaining 338 yards in the opening half, Pleasant Valley had just three first downs on its first three possessions of the second half. Meanwhile, Nazareth continued to pad its lead with Gray and Simmons each running for a touchdown in the final 6:22 of the fourth quarter.

"The big thing was the inconsistency," Terwilliger said. "I saw flashes of great things and then I saw flashes of things that weren't so great. Nazareth is a great offense. They do a lot of great things, but we have to shake things up. Fifty points, I don't care who you are, you aren't going to win a games giving that up."